The qmv ("quick move") program allows file names to be edited in a text editor. The names of all files in a directory are written to a text file, which is then edited by the user. The text file is read and parsed, and the changes are applied to the files.

The qcp ("quick cp") program works like qmv, but copies files instead of moving them.

The imv ("interactive move") program, is trivial but useful when you are too lazy to type (or even complete) the name of the file to rename twice. It allows a file name to be edited in the terminal using the GNU Readline library. icp copies files.

The deurlname program removes URL encoded characters (such as %20 representing space) from file names. Some programs such as w3m tend to keep those characters encoded in saved files.

Note that these programs come with no warranty whatsoever. They should be considered beta quality although I have carefully tested them and verified the code. This means that I can not be responsible for any data loss caused by the file renaming utilities. If you are afraid that that is going to happen, run qmv in dummy mode first (see below).

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

See the specific message file (PO file) for copyright of those messages.

Requirements

The following programs are required to build renameutils:

GCC 2.95 or later

The GNU C Compiler is recommended, but other compilers might work.

GNU libintl

This is needed for localisation. If you don't have it, you can use the --disable-nls option with the configure script.

The following programs are required for proper operation of renameutils:

GNU Readline Library (libreadline) 2.1 or later

Both qmv and imv use readline.

The unix `mv' command

The imv program invokes `mv'.

GNU libintl

This is needed unless you disable NLS support (see above).

Installation

Compile the renameutils by running `configure' and then `make'. This should produce executables in the src directory, which can be used right away.

If you want to install the renameutils on your system, run `make install'. This will copy the executables and the man pages into the appropriate directories (usually /usr/local/bin and /usr/local/share/man/man1, respecively).

For further details regarding `configure' and `make', see the INSTALL file.

Usage

A list of options that each program accepts can be displayed by running it with the --help option:

qmv --help
qcp --help
imv --help
icp --help
deurlname --help

Please consult the manual page for each program for full usage information. These documents can usually be viewed this way:

man ./qcmd.1

or

man -l qcmd.1

To rename a file using imv, use

imv FILENAME

To rename files in the current directory using qmv, use

qmv

or use the interactive mode of qmv:

qmv -i

Enable the simulation mode of qmv by specifying the --dummy option. I use imv and qmv in my user menu in Midnight Commander. The following lines are in my ~/.mc/menu file:

q qmv
qmv .

Q qmv wide
qmv -owidth=120 .

r mv
imv %f

Homepage

The latest version of the file renaming utilities can be downloaded from